Hypochondriac Danny Weems gets drafted into the army and makes life miserable for his fellow GIs. He's also lovesick when it comes to pretty Mary Morgan, unaware that she's in love with his... See full summary »

Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has to see another love affair fail. The reason: when the relationship reaches the point when it is time to discuss marriage, his doll Clarence becomes mean and ... See full summary »

Jacobowsky, a Jewish refugee, flees from the Nazis with an aristocratic, anti-semitic Polish officer trying to get papers to England. Jurgens learns to appreciate Kaye, despite their ... See full summary »

Loring "Red" Nichols is a cornet-playing country boy who goes to New York in the 1920s full of musical ambition and principles. He gets a job playing in Wil Paradise's band, but quits to ... See full summary »

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Storyline

Boisterous nightclub entertainer Buzzy Bellew was the witness to a murder committed by gangster Ten Grand Jackson. One night, two of Jackson's thugs kill Buzzy and dump his body in the lake at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Buzzy comes back as a ghost and summons his bookworm twin, Edwin Dingle, to Prospect Park so that he can help the police nail Jackson.Written by
Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>, corrected by dondeanadelaney@gmail.com

Technical Specs

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The giant vases in the set of the Pelican Club were a last-minute inspiration of art director Ernst Fegté. He had originally commissioned legendary sculptor Tony Duquette to do large statues for the set, but producer Samuel Goldwyn, who'd approved the sketches of Duquette's sculptures, decided he didn't like them once they were actually built. Eventually, Fegté arranged to sell Duquette's sculptures to MGM and thought of using the giant vases to replace them. See more »

Goofs

For a couple of shots during their encounter at Prospect Park, it's obviously a body double for Danny Kaye as Buzzy. See more »

Quotes

District Attorney:
Your story is satisfactory except for a few minor details.
Edwin Dingle:
Well, it was quite dark and I may have slipped up on one or two points.
District Attorney:
Yes, in the first place, the tall, thin man with the red beard was a short, fat, fan dancer named Chu-Chu LaVerne!
See more »

Crazy Credits

Closing credits: This Is Overseas Program no. 913 TO FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN: Pictures exhibited in this theatre are given to the armed forces for showing in combat areas around the world. WAR ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY See more »

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User Reviews

This has always been my favourite Danny Kaye movie, it sustains the humour and story up to the end pretty well. All of his films are a roller-coaster for me: helpless tearful laughter one second, grim pained winces next, and WM is no exception to this rule, even though I love it. Perhaps he only needed a little more ... discipline in his comedy routines, to know when to stop, maybe at the 3rd joke stopped sneeze in a row etc. Sylvia Fine could have been a bigger help in this regard of course. On the other hand maybe we should be grateful for what we've got, and anyway in the end who'd really have wanted him any other way?

It may seem a little rough for the charismatic Buzzy Bellew to get murdered and come back as a ghost seeking proxy justice through the intermediary of his mono-zygotic twin brother Edwin Dingle, both comically played by Kaye. But this was just after the War and people generally weren't too sensitive at that point and didn't normally morbidly dwell on Sam Goldwyn's Technicolor fantasies. And that's basically all there is to it, a fine cast make the most of a good script. The special effects are OK but Time has wreaked its usual havoc on the actual film itself, and technology has also ruined us in the intervening years.

Favorite bits: Kaye repeatedly asking Cuddles in the delicatessen for a pint of Prospect Park; Kaye pretending he was in a pet shop (not a theatre) over the phone to Virginia Mayo; the sudden change into an operatic tenor; hearing Richard Lane's voice scything through everything. Bad bits: the Goldwyn Girls' one scene - no wonder Mayo stood out! The gaps in the mortals' conversation for the ghost to speak his lines was also too apparent - but hey, I said that I love this film!

9 of 13 people found this review helpful.
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